EATEN ALIVE (1977) (Arrow Video Blu-ray Review)

EATEN ALIVE (1977) 

Label: Arrow Video 

Release Date: September 21st 2015

Certificate: 18

Duration: 91 Minutes

Region Code: A/B/ 1/2

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio: English Uncompressed PCM Mono 1.0 with Optional English SDH Subtitles

Director: Tobe Hooper

Cast: William Finley, Mel Ferrer, Marilyn Burns, Janus Blythe, Carolyn Jones, Neville Brand, Stuart Whitman, Roberta Collins, Kyle Richards, Robert Englund

Eaten Alive (1977) is a very strange movie all the way around, it was Tobe Hooper's follow-up to the seminal shocker The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and it centers around the run down Starlight Hotel located somewhere in the rural Louisiana bayou. An unattractive roadside hotel run by a Southern-fried weirdo named Judd (Neville Brand, Without Warning), a grizzled, middle-aged man with a wooden leg who deliriously alternates between a somewhat charming Southern nut and a a completely unhinged scythe-wielding, mumbling murdering menace. 

We have several disparate groups of patrons convening at the Starlight Hotel, beginning with a kind-hearted whore named Clara Wood (Roberta Collins, Caged Heat) who has just been fired from a brothel run by Miss Hattie (Carolyn Jones, from The Munsters!) when she won't give-up the backdoor to a local redneck named Buck. The horny backdoor man is played by future Freddy Kruger star Robert Englund. In the opening scene he's trying for some sweet backdoor action with the classic line, "My name's Buck, I'm raring to fuck", a line Tarantino famously paraphrased in Kill Bill Vol.1.  When she refuses to take in the behind Clara is thrown from the brothel by the madame and finds herself at the Starlight, but when the moralistic Judd realizes she one of the local whores he makes quick work of her with his pitchfork before feeding her to the hungry crocodile which he keeps in a swamp right next the hotel. 

Sometime later the Faye (Marilyn Burns) and her wildly disturbed husband Roy (William Finley, The Funhouse) arrive at the starlight with their young daughter Angie (Kyle Richards) and set-up for the night in a room, but not before the croc eats their pet dog in a frenzied scene. Around the same time Harvey Wood (Mel Ferrer, Nightmare City) and his daughter Libby (Crystin Sinclaire, Ruby) arrive on scene, looking for Harvey's runaway daughter Clara, who was the whore Judd just fed to his croc.  Then after a night of drinking and playing pool Buck (Englund) arrives back at the Starlight to Judd's dismay with his girlfriend Lynette (Janus Blythe, The Hills Have Eyes) and the bloody slaughter begins as the demented Judd sets about murdering damn near everyone and feeding them to his croc.

The set-up is simple and sleazy, and the tone of the movie is very surreal, having been shot completely on  a sound stage the movie is washed in an brain-searing red glow, as if a blood red neon-moon was ominously shining down from the sky, plus there's an impenetrable thick fog which enshrouds the area in an otherworldly blanket of fear. It establishes a claustrophobic vibe that seems inescapable, with a nerve shredding electronic score that gives the impression of a bad southern acid-trip. 

Neville Brand is in top-form here as the demented hotel proprietor, a nut who mumbles to himself in between murdering folks with his trusty scythe. He's not the only weirdo at the hotel this night either, William Finley's appearance as either a drugged-out, or clearly insane, Roy is right off the deep end of weirdness, the scene of him looking for his lost eyeball on the shag carpet of the hotel room is straight out of a David Lynch film. Marylin Burns stars as his suffering wife, she matches the ferocity of her final girl from Chainsaw here with ear-shredding screams of terror, as does her movie daughter Kyle Richards (The Car, Halloween), who spends most of the movie hiding beneath the crawlspace of the hotel trying to escape the grasp of the murderous Judd and his hungry croc.

The movie is oozing atmosphere from the first frame, a strange and surreal psychotronic terror film that at times feel almost post-apocalyptic with the neon-red lighting and relentless fog-drenched setting, unhinged and disturbing and maybe not an easy watch for some, a Southern-fried nightmare you cannot get away from. 

Speaking of nightmares, you just cannot get around how awful the ten foot animatronic croc looks on camera. The thing is straight-up dreadful but Hooper wisely keeps it in hidden-away for the most part, you definitely get the impression that his is the croc-version of Bruce the Shark from Spielberg's Jaws, on the numerous extras you can hear multiple testimonies from the cast and crew as to what a nightmare the water-logged croc prop was during the making of the movie. 

So we have a croc that's a croc-o-shit and some mild pacing issues in the mid-section of this Southern slice of surrealistic terror but I can look past the flaws, I love this strange movie and I believable it's an undervalued entry in the Hooper canon, one worth rediscovering on Blu-ray from Arrow Video. 

Audio/Video: Arrow Video have gone back to the original 35mm camera negative for a brand new 2K restoration of Hooper's  Eaten Alive in the original widescreen aspect ratio (1.85:1), and the results are stupendous. The movie has never looked better and far surpasses by Dark Sky Films DVD (2000) in all respects. The colors are rich and nicely saturated, looking more natural and reds not running so hot. There's a nice layer of natural looking film grain with a new depth, clarity and fine detail to the image we've not seen before on home video, it simply looks fantastic. 

Arrow keep the audio pure with an uncompressed PCM 1.0 Mono track with a psychotronic-electronic score from Wayne Bell and Tobe Hooper, it is a harsh listen and it perfectly compliments the images of surreal terror. Dialogue and sounds effects are nicely balanced and optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing are included. 

Reversible Artwork 

Onto the wealth of extras we have all the bonus content from the Dark Sky DVD including the audio commentary with co-writer and producer Mardi Rustam, make-up artist Craig Reardon and stars Roberta Collins, William Finley and Kyle Richards. The commentary is a pastiche of separate commentaries stitched together and placed appropriately throughout the movie and works quite nicely. Also carried over are the featurettes 'My Name is Buck' with star Robert Englund discussing his early career and time on the film with the cast and Hooper. 

'The Butcher of Elmendorf: The Legend of Joe Ball' tells the story of the WWI vet turned bootlegger who is the inspiration for the character of Judd, who may or may not have fed his wife and lovers to the crocs he kept in a pit behind his bar. 

There's also the '5ive Minutes with Marilyn Burns' interview the original scream-queen, and star of Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, plus we get an alternate opening credit sequence. That's pretty much everything from the dark Sky edition, so feel safe to upgrade and enjoy the superior HD presentation. 

Onto the new stuff produced by Arrow Video we have three brand new interview coming in at about thirty-seven minutes in length with director Tobe Hooper, Special Effects Artists Craig Reardon and starlet Janus Blythe, and she seems like quite a character with loads of colorful stories as she recounts cruising the Hollywood studio lots in search of roles, her early career and she briefly mentioning turning down a role in what turned out to be Rob Zombie's Lords of Salem. Craig Reardon gives a somewhat scholarly recounting of history of the lot where the film was shot and his own insights into actor Neville Brand, who by all accounts was quite a weird guy and a decorated WWII soldier. Hooper recalls being pitched the film and how this was his first studio picture, re working the script, the true-life basis for Brand's character, and working on a sound stage and what he was trying to create.

Also included are thirteen-minutes of trailer for the movie under the myriad of alternate titles including Eaten Alive, Death Trap, Starlight Slaughter and Horror Hotel. There's also fifteen-minutes of TV and radio spots, and three galleries of behind-the-scenes and promotional images, including some hilarious comment cards from the test-screenings of the film. 

Away from the disc extras we have a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin and the original poster art, plus a 24-page collector's booklet with new writing on the film from author Brad Stevens, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Special Features

- Audio commentary with co-writer and producer Mardi Rustam, make-up artist Craig Reardon and stars Roberta Collins, William Finley and Kyle Richards

- New introduction to the film by director Tobe Hooper (1 Mins) HD

- Brand new interview with Hooper (14 Mins) HD 

- Brand New Interview with star Janus Blythe (12 Mins) HD 

- Brand New Interview with Special Effects Artist Craig Reardon (11 Mins) HD 

- My Name is Buck: Star Robert Englund discusses his acting career (15 Mins) SD 

- The Butcher of Elmendorf: The Legend of Joe Ball - The story of the South Texas bar owner on whom Eaten Alive is loosely based (23 Mins) SD

- 5ive Minutes with Marilyn Burns - The star of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre talks about working on Eaten Alive (5 Mins) SD

- The Gator Creator: archival interview with Hooper (14 Mins) SD 

- Original theatrical trailers for the film under its various titles Eaten Alive, Death Trap, Starlight Slaughter and Horror Hotel (13 Mins) HD 

- US TV and Radio Spots (15 Mins) HD 

- Alternate Credits Sequence (1 Mins) HD 

- Galleries: Behind The scene (8 Mins), Still and Promotional Material (64 Images), Comment Cards (34 Images) HD 

- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin

- 24 Pg. Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Arrow Video have put together a pretty damn definitive HD version of Tobe Hooper's psychotronic terror-classic for fans of the movie, the HD presentation is fantastic and the wealth of extras are superb, very highly recommend. 

Screenshots from www.DVDBeaver.Com

DAVID CRONENBERG CLASSIC 'RABID' ON DUAL FORMAT BD/DVD 2/16 from ARROW VIDEO UK

PRAY IT DOESN'T HAPPEN TO YOU!

RABID (1977) 

**GLOBAL BLU-RAY PREMIERE **

“The appeal of horror is beyond politics. It’s accessible to political criticism, but the appeal is very direct – right into the viscera, before it gets to the brain. And you don’t have politics in the viscera.” -Cronenberg on Cronenberg, first published in 1992 by Faber and Faber Limited

Arrow Video is thrilled to announce the release of David Cronenberg’s much lauded horror classic Rabid (1977) which will be available on dual format Blu-ray & DVD both as an amaray and Steelbook from 16th February 2015. This new edition will mark the Blu-ray world premiere for Rabid, which served as the follow up picture to Cronenberg’s debut 1975 feature Shivers,continuing to explore the themes of viral diseases, yet upping the ante, the scale, the gore levels and the threat by unleashing the venereal terror on the whole of downtown Montreal.

This fresh release will include a host of exciting extra features including audio commentaries with both director David Cronenberg and William Beard, author of The Artist as Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg. This disc will also feature brand new interviews, most notably with famed director (and Rabid executive producer) Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Twins) and his co-producer Don Carmody.

Other extras include the featurette Make-up Memories in which make-up artist Joe Blasco recalls how the film’s various gruesome effects were achieved and Raw, Rough and Rabid: The Lacerating Legacy of Cinépix - a featurette which looks back at the early years of the celebrated Canadian production company.

Alongside this, the disc will also include the David Cronenberg episode of The Directors, a 1999 documentary on the filmmaker, containing interviews with Cronenberg, Marilyn Chambers, Deborah Harry, Michael Ironside, Peter Weller and others.

The reversible sleeve will feature both original artwork and a newly commissioned cover art by Nat Marsh. The collector’s booklet features new writing on the film by Kier-La Janisse, reprinted excerpts of Cronenberg on Cronenberg and more, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Synopsis
First come the Shivers… then, you turn RABID! Celebrated Canadian cult auteur David Cronenberg (The Fly, Videodrome) followed up his startling debut feature length proper Shivers with this tense and gory thriller which expands upon the venereal disease theme of that film, this time unleashing it on the whole of downtown Montreal – with terrifying consequences.

When beautiful Rose (adult film star Marilyn Chambers) is badly injured in a motorcycle crash, Dr. Keloid, who is in the process of developing a revolutionary new type of skin-graft, seizes the opportunity to test out his as yet unproven methods. The surgery appears successful and Rose seems restored to full health. But all is not as it should be – Rose has been transformed into a contagious blood-sucker, endowed with a bizarre, needle-like protrusion in her armpit with which she drains the blood from those unfortunate enough to be in her vicinity.

An important landmark in the early career of Cronenberg, Rabid sees the director returning to the viral theme of his earlier work but on a much larger (and more assured) scale – where the infection has shifted from the confines of a single apartment block to the expansive shopping centres and motorways of Canada’s second largest city.

Special Features
· New High Definition Digital Transfer
· High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the feature
· Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
· Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
· Audio Commentary with writer-director David Cronenberg
· Audio Commentary with William Beard, author of The Artist as Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg
· Archive interview with David Cronenberg
· Brand new interview with executive producer Ivan Reitman
· Brand new interview with co-producer Don Carmody
· Make-up Memories: Joe Blasco Remembers Rabid – A short featurette in which Blasco recalls how the film’s various gruesome effects were achieved
· Raw, Rough and Rabid: The Lacerating Legacy of Cinépix – Featurette looking back at the early years of the celebrated Canadian production company, including interviews with author Kier-La Janisse and special makeup artist Joe Blasco
· The Directors: David Cronenberg – A 1999 documentary on the filmmaker, containing interviews with Cronenberg, Marilyn Chambers, Deborah Harry, Michael Ironside, Peter Weller and others
· Original Theatrical Trailer
· Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nat Marsh
· Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kier-La Janisse, reprinted excerpts of Cronenberg on Cronenberg and more, illustrated with original archive stills and posters.

Specs
Release Date: Monday 16th February 2015
Certificate: 18
Language: English (English SDH Subtitles)
Running Time : 91 minutes
Region: B/2
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: 1.0 Mono

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) 40TH ANNIVERSARY RESTORATION (Second Sight Blu-ray Review)

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) 
2-Disc 40th Anniversary Restoration 

Label: Second Sight Films

Region Code: B

Rating: 18 Certificate

Duration: 8d Minutes

Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.77:1)
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 and 5.1 / PCM Stereo 2.0, PCM Mono 1.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Tobe Hooper

Cast: Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, Allen Danziger, William Vail, Jim Siedow, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal 

When I was just barely in the double digits my parents rented a laser disc player (what's that, right kids) and a few scary movies movies and one of them was THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) and the other was the erotic-demon shocker MAUSOLEUM (1988) starring the demon-boobied Bobbie Bresee. 

From the very first frame it was unsettling and filled me with an unease, the image of the sun baked armadillo dead on the roadside right away gave me the heads-up that I was about to endure something awful. Layer on top of that the macabre images of the disinterred corpses staged at a cemetery and the unsettling flash photography and I was already a bit nauseated.

Enter a group of twenty-somethings travelling cross country in a Volkswagen van, we have Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) and her paraplegic brother, Franklin (Paul A. Partain) travelling across Texas with friends Jerry (Allen Danziger), Kirk (William Vail), and Pam (Teri McMinn), to visit the grave of the Hardestys' grandfather which may have been desecrated following the the macabre acts of vandalism mentioned previously.  

Along the way they have the unfortunate urge to pick-up a very strange Hitchhiker (Edwin Neal) who has an unsightly birth mark on his face. Once inside things go weird when he goes on about the joy of killing cows at the slaughterhouse and how tasty his brother's homemade head cheese is before he takes a pocket knife and slices open his own palm...  watching this for the first time I quickly realized I was seriously in over my head. Now everyone in the van is on edge and panicked when suddenly the but grabs Franklin and slices open his arm before being thrown out the van. Running alongside the van as it speeds off he smears his blood on the van and the group continue on. 


arriving at the cemetery they conform that their grandparents graves have not been disturbed and head off to check out the now abandoned Hardesty house, Before arriving and they realize they are running on fumes and top off at a gas station only to be told they are out of gas and the fuel truck won't arrive until the next day. With the Hardesty farm house just a few miles away and they decide to make the short trip of it and return to the gas station later that night to refuel. 

At the house Kirk and Pam wander off to a swimming hole rumored to be nearby while Sally and Jerry explore the dilapidated house leaving poor wheelchair bound Franklin on his own, unable to navigate the crumbling home. Early on we discover what an annoying whiner Franklin is but he takes it to the next level at the house. Unable to follow his sister he's left on his own to complain while giving disapproving raspberries in his sister's direction. The poor bastard is a cripple and you would think you might have some sympathies for him but he is such an unlikable character who wallows in hos own self pity. 

Pam and Kirk never do find the swimming hole but they do come across a neighboring home after they hear a gas-powered generator humming away in the distance. The curious Kirk enters the home and meets one of the inhabitants with deadly consequences. A hulking figure wearing a dead-skin mask named Leatherface (Gunnar Hanson) smashes his skull with a mallet, the encounter is quick and before you know what's happening Kirk is dead on the floor with his legs creepily twitching away. 

Pam hears the commotion and come inside looking for Kirk whom she assumes is playing a joke on her. Inside she enters a room blanketed in chicken feather and eerie sculptures made from the bone of animals and what appear to be human. Realizing something is very wrong she attempts to leave but Leatherface snatches her up and impales her on a meat hook! While she hangs there helpless and squirming Leatherface starts to carve-up Kirk with a chainsaw. 

As night sets in the group back at the Hardesty homestead begin to worry about Pam and Kirk, Jerry mounts a one-an search party and sets off into the night finding his way to the home not expecting to discover the horrors that await him inside. He hears a noise coming from a freezer and opens it to find Pam still alive just as Leatherface kill hims.

Now completely dark outside Sally and Franklin begin to worry and set off through a brush thicket to find their friends when Leatherface emerges from the darkness chainsawing poor Franklin to death as the hysterical Sally lets loose the first of many marathon screams - it is a supremely effective kill scene to this day, every death onscreen in this move carries a weight to it and that makes it so damn effective - nearly bloodless but brutal. . 

Sally escapes Leatherface and makes her way to the gas station seeking the help of the the proprietor (Jim Siedow) who turns out to be the father of Leatherface and the Hitchhiker, of course. He beats her with a broom before tying her up and placing her in sack. Siedow is truly demented in the role and brings a lot to the character, it's a nightmarish encounter. He throws her in his truck and makes his way back to the farm house where the strange clan sit down for a family dinner with Sally as the main course. They wheel out the desiccated corpse of their Grandpa (John Dugan) who looks mummified until he gets a taste of Sally's blood and then he becomes a bit more animated. Apparently he was quite the killer back at the slaughterhouse and the family want him to do the dirty deed. They kneel the hysterical Sally over a large wash bin at Grandpa's feet as he limply attempts to smash her brains in with a hammer. It's such a nightmare scenario and infused with the crazy energy of the cannibal clan and Marilyn Burn's marathon of screams, her duress is nerve-shattering.

While Grandpa swings away to the cheers of the family Sally somehow manages to get away by leaping through a window pane of glass, sprinting for the main road with both Leatherface and the Hitchiker just behind her. The film ends with a semi truck happening upon the bizarre scene with the Hitchhiker splattered on the road and Sally jumping into the bed of a passing pick-up truck laughing and screaming hysterically as Leatherface spins the chainsaw in the air in anger. 

I remember watching it for the first-time like it was yesterday, my nerves were a wreck. I was shaking and scared out of my mind and for some reason I loved it - it was at that moment I knew I loved to be scared. Subsequent viewing bare witness to the continuing power of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, a tightly crafted film with not an excess ounce of filler to it. Everything onscreen carries with it a weight that cannot be denied - a terror classic without equal.

BLU-RAY:

When I first heard there was a brand new 4K remaster of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE on the way I scoffed at the notion that you could improve this 40 year-old classic shot on 16mm. This had always been a sweaty film with copious amounts of grit and grain galore. Could a new 4K restoration even be worth it, or worse take something away from it? 

Now that I've watched it I must say that the film certainly has never looked better - which is not to say pristine. There's only so much you can do with a 40 year old film shot on the inherently grainy 16mm film stock, let's be real about that. Knowing that the grain structure is intact and appears natural without any wholesale DNR having been applied leaving as much fine detail as the possible onscreen. The colors are solid but this film has always been a bit soft but the fine detail and textures do come through with a deeper clarity and vibrancy - though I would stop short of saying there's a lot of sharpness to the image., it's a sweaty film but this new restoration is worth the double-dip in my opinion. 

We have four audio options including the original PCM Mono 1.0 for the purist and a newly created DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1. Thankful for the inclusion of the original mono but I gotta give it to the new 7.1 surround mix, some great use of the surrounds creating a terrifyingly immersive experience with chainsaw, screams and creepy sound design filtering in from the surrounds with surprising effectiveness. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Onto the extras we have almost everything ported over from the Dark sky Films Ultimate Edition Blu-ray with the notable exception of one - that would be the 'Dr. W.E. Barnes Presents"Making Grandpa" (1 Minute) detailing the transformation of the actor from baby-faced youth into the hideous visage of the blood-sucking grandpa character. 

Onto the new extras on disc one we have two brand new commentaries. The first being a commentary with Writer-Producer-Director Tobe Hooper and the second with Editor J. Larry Carroll and Sound Recordist Ted Nicolaou. Between the four commentaries you will know everything you could ever hope to know about this terrifying film.

Onto the jam-packed second disc we have the carried over features plus nearly an hour of new content exclusive to the 40th Anniversary Restoration. A new interview with production manager Ron Bozman, John Dugan the actor who portrayed the blood-sucking grandpa, editor J. Larry Carroll plus new deleted scene and outtakes presented silent in the absence of an audio track. 

Additionally there are 22 minutes of interviews with Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel which I do not believe are on my Dark Sky Ultimate Edition Blu-ray or the 40th Anniversary version from MPI in the US. 

The MPI release here in the US has courted some controversy regarding a cut to black that was originally a fade to black and Sally's scream/laugh appears to be oddly looped during the finale . Second Sight were aware of the issue and took corrective steps to return the fade to black during the flash photography sequence and the audio glitch, which is appreciated. 

DISC 1
- NEW 40th Anniversary Restoration supervised by Tobe Hooper
- NEW 4k transfer from the original 16mm A/B rolls
- NEW 7.1, 5.1 and stereo mixes as well as the original mono
- NEW audio commentary with Writer-Producer-Director Tobe Hooper
- NEW audio commentary with Cinematographer Daniel Pearl,
- Audio Commentary with Editor J. Larry Carroll, Sound Recordist Ted Nicolaou
- Audio commentary with Writer-Producer-Director Tobe Hooper, Cinematographer Daniel Pearl, Actor Gunnar HansenAudio commentary with Actors Marilyn and Burns, Allen Danziger and Paul A. Partain, and Art Director Robert A. Burns

DISC 2
- ‘Cutting Chain Saw’ with Editor J. Larry Carroll (11 Minutes)
- ‘Granpaw’s Tales’ with Actor John Dugan (16 Minutes)
- Horror’s Hallowed Grounds: TCSM (20 Minutes)
- New Deleted Scenes and Outtakes (15 Minutes)
- ‘The Shocking Truth’ Documentary (73 Minutes)
- 'The Shocking Truth' Outtakes (8 Minutes)
- ‘Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of The Saw’ (72 Minutes)
- ‘Off The Hook’ with Actor Teri McMinn (17 Minutes)
- ‘The Business of Chain Saw’ – with Production Manager Ron Bozman (16 Minutes)
- ‘House Tour with Actor Gunnar Hansen’ (8 Minutes)
- Tobe Hooper interview (14 Minutes)
- Kim Henkel interview (8 Minutes)
- Deleted Scenes and Outtakes (25 Minutes)
- Bloopers (2 Minutes)
- Trailers and TV Spots (7 Minutes) 
- Radio Spots (1 Minute)
- Stills Gallery (2 Minutes) 
- Trailers (2 Minutes) 

VERDICT:
THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE will always be a terrifying slice of horror and this 2-disc edition from Second Sight in the UK is just fantastic with a brand-new 4K restoration and a sweet new surround mix with a wealth of bonus material clocking-in just shy of the eleven-hour mark, making this about as damn near definitive as we are ever going to see. Not just a high recommend but a must-own release for any red-blooded horror fan. 

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) 40th Anniversary Restoration UK Steelbook Blu-ray released on 11/17

The brutal classic THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) 40th Anniversary Restoration comes to Blu-ray in the UK on November 17th from SECOND SIGHT FILM as a standard two-disc Blu-ray and a Limited Edition Blu-ray SteelBook with new extras and a 4K HD Restoration!!

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE

40TH ANNIVERSARY RESTORATION

Label: Second Sight Films

Release Date: November 17th 2014 

Region Code: B

Duration: 84 Minutes

Video: 1:77:1, 1080p

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Aduio 7.1, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, PCM Stereo 2.0, PCM Mono 1.0 

Director: Tobe Hooper 

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre not!only changed the face of!horror in 1974 but still remains one of the most shocking, powerful and terrifying films ever made.Now to celebrate its 40th Anniversary, brand new!restored version comes to Blu-ray!courtesy of Second Sight.

Widely banned on release! its notoriety has not! diminished and this harrowing tale of a depraved Texan clan and its chainsaw wielding icon of horror Leatherface! continues to stun and disturb audiences like no other film.

Supervised by director Tobe!Hooper, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has received a stunning 4K restoration and 7.1 audio!mix, looking and sounding like never before.

The film will be released as a two-disc limited edition Steelbook blu-ray with!brand new artwork created by Doaly and stacked with brand-new!bonus features, a standard two-disc Blu-ray with reversible sleeve featuring the new artwork and the original!U.S. poster!artwork will!also!be!available on November 17th 2014.

BRAND NEW BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:
- NEW 4k transfer from the original 16mm A/B rolls.
-NEW 7.1 surround audio mix supervised by Tobe Hooper, 5.1 surround, 2.0 stereo, 1.0 original mono.
- NEW Audio commentary with Tobe Hooper.
- NEW Deleted scenes and outtakes.
- NEW audio commentary with cinematographer Daniel Pearl, sound recordist Ted Nicolaou, and editor J. Larry Carroll.
- NEW Deleted Scenes and Outtakes
- NEW 'Grandpa's Tales' with actor John Dugan.

OTHER BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:
- Audio commentary with Tobe Hooper, actor Gunnar Hansen, cinematographer Daniel Pearl.
- Audio commentary with actors Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, and Paul A. Partain, and production designer Robert Burns.
- 'Cutting Chain Saw' with Editor J. Larry Carroll.
- Horror's Hallowed Grounds: TCSM.
- 'The Shocking Truth' documentary plus outtakes.
- 'Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of The Saw'.
- A Tour of the TCSM House with Gunnar Hansen.
- 'Off The Hook' with Teri McMinn.
- 'The Business of Chain Saw' – with Production Manager Ron Bozman.
- Tobe Hooper interview.
- Kim Henkel interview.
- Deleted Scenes and Outtakes, Trailers, TV and Radio spots.